Figure skater Kaetlyn Osmond of Sherwood Park was given a hero’s sendoff to the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

This past Thursday, hundreds of fans gathered at the West Edmonton Mall Ice Palace to take in one final exhibition performance by Osmond before she left for the Games.

Osmond, 22, a three-time national champion and 2017 World silver medalist, is attending her second Winter Olympics and is one of numerous Edmonton-area athletes competing in Pyeongchang.

She is considered one of Canada’s best medal hopes, coming off her silver-medal performance at the World Championships last year in Helsinki.

Osmond finished second behind Gabrielle Daleman of Toronto at this year’s nationals but goes into the Olympics more confident that she was four years ago in Sochi, Russia.

“I was definitely new going into the last Olympics, I was very new to the international scene,” Osmond said. “I was just excited to be on the team and to enjoy the experience.

“This time, I’ve been training so hard. I have a world silver medal under my belt and much more international experience. So I just feel more mature, more ready, and more confident.”

Osmond will be competing in the short program of the women’s singles event on Feb. 20 (6 p.m. MT) and in the free skate on Feb. 22 (6 p.m.).

Here is a look at other athletes competing in Pyeongchang with Edmonton connections:

Keegan Messing – Figure skating

Keegan Messing, of Sherwood Park, reacts after performing his free program during the senior men’s competition at the Canadian Figure Skating Championships in Vancouver, B.C., on Saturday January 13, 2018.DARRYL DYCK /
THE CANADIAN PRESS

Keegan Messing, 26, was born in Anchorage, Alaska, but now makes his home in Sherwood Park. He qualified for his first Olympic Games by placing second behind Patrick Chan at nationals this year.

A dual citizen — his mother was born in Edmonton — Messing began competing for Canada in 2014.

He took part in his first Canadian national championship in 2015, placing fifth.

Alysia Rissling – Bobsleigh

Canadian bobsledders Alysia Rissling, left and Heather Moyse met for the first time in Calgary on Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017.Leah Hennel /
Leah Hennel/Postmedia

An Edmonton native, Rissling, 29, was a basketball star with the University of Alberta Pandas before taking up bobsleigh in 2014.

Rissling rose rapidly in the sport and was piloting her own sled within months at the provincial level then moved on to the national level.

This season with brakeman Heather Moyse, Rissling placed in the top 10 in six of eight World Cup races.

The pair will be competing in their first Olympic games together as one of three Canadian two-woman teams.

Schedule: Feb. 20: 4:50 a.m. Feb. 21: 4:40 a.m.

Neville Wright – Bobsleigh

Neville Wright, of Edmonton, middle, celebrates after a two-man World Cup Bobsleigh race in Whistler, B.C., on Friday, Nov. 24, 2017.DARRYL DYCK /
THE CANADIAN PRESS

Edmontonian Neville Wright, 37, will be competing in his third Olympic games in Pyeongchang.

The former University of Alberta track star took up bobsleigh in 2009 and, less than a year later, was a member of Pierre Lueders four-man team at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

Wright, a former world-class sprinter who competed in the 2007 World Athletic Championships as a member of the Canada’s 4x100m men’s relay team, will be a member of Canada’s four-man team piloted by Chris Spring.

Sherwood Park product Kevin Boyer, 24, took up the sport of skeleton shortly after the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

Boyer is a three-year veteran of the World Cup circuit and will be competing in his first Olympic Games.

Boyer’s best performance on the World Cup circuit was 12th, a finish upon which he is looking to improve in Pyeongchang.

Schedule: Feb. 14: 6 p.m.

Josie Morrison – Speed Skating

Canadian long track speed skaters Denny Morrison and his wife Josie Morrison hug during a a press conference at the Jack Singer in Calgary, on Wednesday Jan. 10, 2018, naming the team for Pyeongchang 2018.Leah Hennel /
Leah Hennel/Postmedia

Josie has been skating on the World Cup circuit since 2013 and had her breakthrough in November, when she won her first career medal at a meet in Heerenveen, Netherlands, taking bronze in the team pursuit.

Schedule: Feb. 12 – 1500m: 5:30 a.m. Feb. 19 – Team Pursuit: 4 a.m.

Mike Riddle – Freestyle Skiing

Mike Riddle #13 of Canada competes in the Men’s Freeski Halfpipe final during the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix on Jan. 12, 2018 in Snowmass, Colo.Matthew Stockman /
Getty Images

One of the pioneers of freestyle skiing when the half pipe made its debut as a World Cup sport in 2005, Riddle, 31, of Edmonton is one of Canada’s medal hopes in Pyeongchang.

Riddle is the defending Olympic silver medalist, which he claimed in Sochi in 2014.

Riddle overcame multiple shoulder injuries to win a silver medal at the 2018 FIS World Championships earlier this year.

Schedule: Feb. 19: 6:30 p.m.

Kevin Koe, Marc Kennedy, Scott Pfeifer – Curling

Team Koe lead Ben Hebert, left to right, third Marc Kennedy, skip Kevin Koe and second Brent Laing celebrate their win over Team McEwen during the men’s final at the 2017 Roar of the Rings Olympic Curling Trials in Ottawa on Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017.Adrian Wyld /
THE CANADIAN PRESS

The curling events in Pyeongchang will have a distinctive Edmonton feel to them with a number of local-area athletes represented.

Kevin Koe of Edmonton, who now resides in Calgary and curls out of the Glencoe Club, will try to add an Olympic gold medal to his impressive resume, which already includes three Brier championships and two world titles.

Koe’s rink includes lead Ben Hebert, second Brent Laing, third Marc Kennedy, and alternate Scott Pfeifer — both of St. Albert.

The Canadian men’s team are three-time defending Olympic champions and have never failed to medal since curling became an official event in 1988.

Meaghan Mikkelson, Shannon Szabados – Women’s Hockey

The Canadian women’s hockey team will be attempting to defend the gold medal won in dramatic fashion at the Sochi 2014 Olympics.

Canada defeated the United States 3-2 in overtime, overcoming a late 2-0 deficit in the process.

Canada has won the past four Olympic hockey tournaments and once again go in as favourites.

The team is led by veteran defenceman Meaghan Mikkelson, 33, of St. Albert and backstopped by goaltender Shannon Szabados, 31, of Edmonton.

Mikkelson and Szabados are each two-time Olympic gold medalist and hope to add a third to their impressive collection.

“I think what people can expect from this group is that we have a lot of young, hard-working talent,” Mikkelson said. “We’ve had a lot of time to work on our systems. In that time we’ve had together, we’re just looking at getting better every day. We have a lot of young players, but we also have that veteran experience.”

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